Tag Archives: OOAK

Art Doll Motorcycle

I recently started working on a piece with two of my art doll figures having an adventurous ride on a motorcycle. Though I’ve created a number of art dolls and figure sculptures that were perched on bicycles, this is my first riding a motorcycle.

I have been having fun so far researching and sketching the particular type of motorcycle, and then stylizing it into my steampunk interpretation. There are a obviously a few more components than a bicycle to incorporate in to ensure it represents one particular type of machine over another.

First I braised together the basic motorcycle frame and produced a couple of types of wheel choices.

beginning copper frame for doll sized motorcycle and wheels of electrical conduit

Beginning of fame and conduit wheels

The most labor intensive process so far has been hand hammering out the two fenders. Blacksmith and body shops have power hammers and english wheels to shape and smooth these types of parts. I found myself wishing I could find a Tinkerbell sized version of both to work with for these.

hammering copper fender for art doll sized motorcycle

Hammering out front fender

I added the fenders, wheel mounts, and springs. Next up will be handlebars, motor, and gas tank. I’ll do my best to take photos along the way.

Frame with fenders and springs

Art Dolls Installed and Invitation

Our Art Is…

The new show at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts including my newest art doll figures is now installed. This show that features my sculptures along with the paintings of Eduardo Lapetina and Pat Merriman will run through June 21st. The opening reception is this Friday, May 29th, from 6 to 9pm during Hillsborough’s monthly Last Friday celebration. If you are in the area I hope you can join us, and see our new work. Here is a peek into the feature gallery.

View through door of Featured Exhibit gallery at HGA

A Closer Look

If you regularly read my posts you have seen most of these new art dolls in their studio shots, but here is a bit more of a tease from the gallery installation.

Psyche-Delia

Psyche-Delia is a steampunk rocker.

The art doll Media holds a key to…?

Art dolls: Media, Getting Ready, and Psyche- Delia sit atop a trio of pedestals.

Joy

Joy dances in a dress that looks like it may have been pulled from Eduardo’s palette.

art dolls: Doll with Doll and Spring in Hillsborough Gallery of Arts

Doll with Doll (sold) looks up at viewer

Doll with doll, and figure titled, “Spring” in front of another Eduardo Lapetina piece in the background.

“Paper Alice” art doll with Alice in Wonderland paintings.

It was completely serendipitous that Pat Merman had produced two mixed media Alice in Wonderland themed paintings that flank my art doll Paper Alice. Paper Alice has paperclay sculpted head and hands, and parchment locks.

Current Drift floats on a pedestal

Hope that you can stop by and see these and my other new art dolls in the feature show, as well as, other examples of my sculptures throughout the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.

Art Doll Excursion

Getting Ready for Feature Show

I am busy finishing up the art doll figures that will be part of my feature show opening next week at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. Each year as I put together this body of work, connections between individual pieces emerge. The pieces I have created this year push gesture, narrative and incorporation of materials. My latest, Mechanical Succession, checks all of those boxes, and is a bit of a stretch beyond the others.

Mechanical Succession

I created her on a slightly larger scale than most, and obviously opened up every tool kit and materials bin in my studio in making her. There are still a few tweaks in positioning and perhaps a random detail or two left to add. She is definitely on of those pieces I spoke of in an earlier post that you need to take a break from while you are working in order digest what you have done so far.

Go Where the Art Doll Takes You

I have to be completely honest and say I’m not sure myself what I think of her yet. Some pieces go exactly where you want them to, while others take you on their own excursion instead. I feel that Mechanical Succession is one of the latter. I am guessing that the story that she jumped out of must be an interesting one, though I’m not quite sure if it is some magical fairy tale, or one that cautions us about the future.

Next week I will share some images of the show installation, and provide one last reminder to set aside next Friday from 6-9 to come out to the opening, see it in person, and say hello.

Art Dolls and Photo Angles

Today I took some photographs of my newly completed art doll sculpture titled Current Drift.

Current Drift

This figure sculpture is another piece that will be at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts starting May 25th.

Making This Art Doll

This piece did not begin as a preconceived sketch, but with a simple decision being made while in the metal studio creating hands and face. That choice was to leave her eyes closed. As I took the polishing buff to the blackened and hammered piece of copper a very peaceful visage emerged. The question then arose as what this figure was enjoying. Was she listening to beautiful music, basking in the warmth of the sun, or perhaps even a fairy tail princess awaiting an awakening kiss? In the end, I thought she’d enjoy a gentile ride.

Though not intentional, I feel that she fits in with my earlier pieces Driving in Reverse, and Future Thoughts. Like those two earlier figures, this doll seems to be communicating something to the viewer. Also, as with those earlier art dolls, her title conveys both her action, and her attitude.

Photographing and Finishing

Taking images of Current Drift was an interesting challenge. Unlike a figure seated or standing, getting all the elements of this art doll in a single shot requires shooting from above. I find that when you do that the piece tends to seem flattened. It took quite a bit of camera angle and art doll repositioning until I landed on one that I thought worked as well as possible. Even with all that movement I haven’t settled if this piece is completely complete. I have been toying with the idea of imbedding the whole piece, art doll and boat, in a puddle of clear or slightly blue tinted resin. I guess you might just have to show up to the show to find out.

Mixed Media Art Doll

An Art Doll That Plays With Materials

Anyone familiar with my work knows that I love to mix, match, and experiment with the media I use in my sculptures. My newest art doll, Media, takes that materials exploration to its highest power.

Media

She has a hammered copper face on a paperclay head with parchment hair and torch fired glass enamel eyes. Her shaped wooden torso connects to one paperclay arm, and one fabricated from copper and aluminum conduit. One jointed leg I fashioned from copper tubing and a shaped dowel shin, and the other has a dowel thigh joined with a copper and aluminum shin. Finally, she is clad in a copper hat, hand stitched faux-leather boots, a tulle skirt, fabric sleeve, and a bit of metallic paint tattooing on the side of her head.

It would be an understatement to say that I enjoyed creating this art doll. The final effect is both playful and somewhat edgy and mysterious. I’m not sure what story she has to tell, but I am guessing that it is one that must be unlocked from safe keeping first.

Media will join my other new art doll figure sculptures at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts May 25th through June 21st.

Paper Art Doll

Art Doll in Progress

Last week I shared some Work-In-Progress images of the newest art doll I was working on. This figure was inspired by a combination of my very first art doll, a snow day, and our yearly literary themed show.

Rather than playing with the idea of a rag doll that wasn’t quite floppy, I instead twisted the idea of a paper doll into a three dimensional figure. This idea sprung from my picking up paperclay to incorporate into my pieces after having used polymer clay for a face on a snowy day. Thinking of this figure as a 3D paper doll turned my attention to book illustrations. The images in a classic version of Alice In Wonderland became the literary basis for “Paper Alice.”

Paper Alice

I purposely kept Alice’s color palette muted and almost monochromatic. I wanted the figure itself to feel as though she had been plucked off the pages of an aged volume. I used mages and quotes from the text to further this concept.

Metalwork takes a supporting role in this art doll. Her shoes, dress collar, and headband I fashioned from copper. The “drink me” tag on her bottle is tooled brass foil, and her eyes are torch fired glass enamel on a copper base.

detail of Paper Alice

I used an antique yellow parchment paper to create Paper Alice’s hair. I created this wig by hand cutting sets of strips that were then stitched on to a tiny stocking cap I created for her. A bit of curling on the edge of scissors set her coiffure in motion.

Paper Alice hands

I enjoyed experimenting with new materials and techniques with this art doll. I expect that I will incorporate them in other figure sculptures in the not too distant future.

Where Did That Post Go?

As I was adding some images to my Art Doll page, I noticed that the post being shown as my most recent, was from a couple of weeks prior. My last post “A Pair and Repair” was back in the draft folder. Now, I’m not sure how that happened, but I’m guessing it occurred somewhere between using a laptop to do one thing, a tablet another, and updating in between the two. So, I decided to share the new piece from this week, and re-share last week’s too.

This is Nobody’s Fool, and you can see she is just that. Stitching the hat was the greatest challenge with this art doll. I actually made two, as the first wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be.

Nobody’s Fool

Last Week, I shared “Future Thoughts”. It is the second in a series. This piece takes the concept of looking forward while keeping an eye on the past (“Driving in Reverse”, the first in the series) a step further and is concentrating firmly on the future.

Future Thoughts

The second art doll from last week was “Fly Girl”, decked out in her brass goggle steampunk finest.

Fly GIrl

I also gave an update on my three out-door Garden Dolls at the UNC Botanical Gardens show. Two required some minor repairs, as overly interested visitors tried to remove parts and pieces. One of the three, “Tend” has already sold and will be going to a new home when the show closes.

Wartski Art Dolls and Sculpture

Art dolls and mixed media sculpture